Tuesday, January 31, 2017

2017 Tornado Rips Into Barnwell State Park

Twisted Pine Tree with State Park Sign

The weekend of January 21 - 22 brought a rare outbreak of severe weather to South Carolina, and I found evidence of the tornado that strafed Barnwell County Park. This state park is located in rural Barnwell County and is near the town of Blackville, and is known for hiking trails and woodland aesthetics. The National Weather Service has confirmed this was an EF-2 tornado that touched down, and while the track of the twister extended into nearby Denmark, the most damage was at the state park.

Roadside trees snapped off and strewn with debris

The National Weather Service (NWS) briefing to media that weekend included several noteworthy remarks including that there was a high-risk of significant severe weather - and high risk warnings are when long-track strong tornadoes can occur, and also when most fatalities occur. "A high risk is very rare for our area, ANY TIME OF YEAR, it is exceedingly rare and essentially unheard of for late January." The area of SE Georgia was hit harder during this weekend, causing loss of life, and S.C. likely just received a glancing blow, but it could be seen as another sign of increased uncertainty in weather patterns that can affect the Lowcountry in the future.